Resource Library

The Center on Standards and Assessment Implementation (CSAI) reviews a variety of resources, ranging from guidance documents, research papers, and policy briefs to tools and websites aimed at supporting state and local education agency leadership in making decisions about their standards, assessment programs, and accountability systems. Reviewed resources are added monthly.

This presentation provides detailed performance task descriptions and examples that illustrate key performance task features that are an important part of the Smarter Balanced Assessment System. Performance tasks are designed for students to demonstrate their ability to think and reason and apply...

This publication provides a framework, the Fundamentals of Learning (FOL), to assist teachers in transitioning to the classroom practices called for in the College- and Career-Ready Standards (CCRS). The content of this resource is drawn from leading theory and research about learning and...

The Coherence Map is an interactive digital tool that visually displays the connections between the K–8 Common Core State Standards for Mathematics (CCSSM). The digital map allows users to search by standards, grade levels, and by domains within each grade level. Once a standard is selected, the...

PARCC's Mathematics Performance Level Descriptors (PLDs) describe performance expectations for the four assessment sub-claims:
major content
additional and supporting content
reasoning
modeling
What differentiates current PLDs from those in the past is that current PLDs were developed in...

PARCC has made available a series of resources that provide support with understanding:
scoring of assessment tasks
use of score criteria to support CCSS-aligned instruction
The resources include the following documents:

PARCC has developed a set of assessment resources designed to support the measurement of student knowledge and skills in the lower grades. The resources included on the K-2 Formative Assessments page align to the Common Core State Standards and to the PARCC assessment system. The documents are...

Supporting research-based decision-making in standards and assessment

WestEd and CRESST, two national leaders in the standards and assessment field, continue their collaboration in providing high-quality research support and technical assistance to states as the Center on Standards and Assessment Implementation (CSAI).

This award is a grant under prime award #S283B050022A between the U.S. Department of Education and WestEd. The findings and opinions expressed herein are those of the author(s) and do not reflect the positions or policies of the U.S. Department of Education. This site and its contents copyright WestEd. All rights reserved.